


Rumor Has It

by fembuck



Category: Lovecraft Country (TV)
Genre: F/F, Family Drama, Femslash, Magic Potions, and i will never be over it, and keeps getting more confused, christina is hella thirsty, good intentions lead to awkward situations, leti is confused, parisian arrangements, relatable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26722042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fembuck/pseuds/fembuck
Summary: Leti hears a rumor that Ruby has been spotted around town in the company of a white man. She immediately suspects that it might be William, up to no good on behalf of Christina Braithwhite, and makes it her mission to look out for her sister by finding out exactly what’s going on.
Relationships: Christina Braithwhite/Ruby Baptiste, Ruby Baptiste/Christina Braithwhite
Comments: 55
Kudos: 430





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story was largely written before episode 7 “I Am” aired. As a result it is only canon compliant up to episode 5. This story is not strictly a sequel, but it does follow in the same universe/timeline as my previous stories ‘for better or worse’ and ‘the right hands’.

It was Far Too Early O’clock when Leti stumbled into Winthrop House’s kitchen, still bleary eyed and fuzzy-headed from the heavy, nightmare filled sleep she’d fallen into in the earlier hours of the morning out of pure exhaustion.

Operating mostly on instinct, Leti followed her nose towards the coffee pot and the promise of beautiful, invigorating caffeine.

“How come you didn’t tell anyone Ruby was dating a white boy?” Cleo asked, sidling up to Leti as she reached for a mug, smiling when Leti jumped a little as if she hadn’t realized anyone else was in the room.

“The whitest boy,” Paula corrected with amusement, crowding in on the other side of Leti.

“Can’t tell you what I don’t know,” Leti muttered, feeling a tiny bit more human after lifting the piping hot mug up and inhaling deeply. 

“You really haven’t heard anything?” Cleo asked as Leti risked a burnt tongue and took a sip, her brain finally beginning to spark fully to life a few seconds later.

“Ruby’s still holdin’ a grudge,” Leti murmured, taking another sip of coffee as she began to think back on what she’d heard but not really registered Cleo and Paula saying before. 

“What do you mean by ‘the whitest’?” Leti asked Paula, her gaze alert and focused now, charged with the energy the caffeine was providing in addition to the shot of adrenaline that shot through her as she thought about William.

“Ernie says he was pale, as you’d expect with a white boy,” Cleo began philosophically. “And blond. But not the usual kind of blond. Extra blond. Or ‘blond with a side a blond, blond’ as Ernie told it.”

“Where’d Ernie see all this?” Leti asked, leaning against the counter as she continued to drink her coffee, a heavy feeling beginning to settle in her stomach at Ernie’s description which sure sounded a helluva lot like William. 

_But why_ , Leti thought. _What could they want with Ruby?_ She wondered, knowing that it was more than likely that whatever William was up to was at the behest of Christina Braithwhite.

“You remember,” Cleo began. “Ruby had a gig a couple nights ago. At the _Mami Wata Lounge_. There was only whitey there, so he was pretty easy to spot, ‘ccording to Delia,” Cleo continued. “Was up front, gazing at Ruby like he wanted to have her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner,” she went on, earning a chuckle from Paula who’d heard a similar, but less politely worded, version of the same thing.

“Anyone seen him with her before?” Leti inquired, looking between the two women curiously.

Cleo and Paula exchanged a look, each hoping the other had some other pieces of gossip to add, but it seemed neither of them did.

“Not that I’ve heard,” Cleo finally said. “I think they knew each other before that night though. Delia said they were pretty familiar with each other outside the lounge after Ruby’s set.”

“Familiar?” Leti asked, arching an eyebrow. “How?”

“Heard said the white boy kissed Ruby like, uh … he had plans for them later, if you catch my drift,” Cleo continued, her voice hushed even though they were the only three residents of the house in the kitchen.

“Yeah,” Leti muttered, her eyebrows scrunching unhappily as she tried not to think too much about William wearing Ruby’s lips, let alone what the plans he had for them later might involve. “Drift caught.”

“Well, Delia was waiting for her man to bring the car around, so that’s how she’s seeing all this,” Cleo continued, “and Mr. Blond-Blond, smooth as silk, drapes his jacket over Ruby’s shoulders as he says something that makes her laugh. And then,” Cleo said, pausing dramatically, “He goes off and brings this expensive silver car around and picks her up. As Delia’s man pulled away from the curb, she saw Mr. Blond-Blond get out and open the passenger door for Ruby, like he was her footman.”

 _Silver car_ , Leti thought. _That fucking Daimler! So, it is William. It has to be._

“Listen,” Cleo continued, “If you do hear from Ruby soon, let her know I wanna have a little chat,” Cleo went on, Leti only listening with half an ear, her mind already pondering how she could track Ruby down. 

Ruby hadn’t left a forwarding address when she’d moved out of Winthrop House, and while Leti had heard bits and pieces about what Ruby had been up to since then, she hadn’t heard anything about where Ruby was staying. 

“...want to know all her secrets, so I can get some rich pink dick too,” Cleo concluded, earning huffs of laughter from Paula even as the woman reached out to slap Cleo’s arm admonishingly.

“Top of my to do list,” Leti told her, slapping a blandly polite smile onto her face. “Have a lovely day ladies,” she continued, making eye contact with both of the other women before she and what was left of her cup of coffee headed out of the kitchen and back to her room, still pondering how she could find Ruby and get William and Christina the hell away from her.

* * *

_Come on, come on_ , Leti thought, biting on a nail and tapping her foot anxiously as she observed the entrance to _Hyacinth’s Hair Salon_ from a parked car across the street.

She and Ruby had had their problems in the past, and weren’t always the closest, but Leti wasn’t so absentee a sister that she didn’t know Ruby had a monthly standing appointment at Hyacinth’s. For years now, on the first Tuesday of every month, at 10 a.m., that’s where Ruby would be.

 _I knew it_ , Leti thought a short time later as she noticed Christina Braithwhite’s silver Daimler on it’s way towards the salon, William’s pale arm dangling roguishly out of the driver’s side window as he brought the car to a stop directly in front of the salon. 

Crouching down in her seat a little, Leti watched surreptitiously as William leaned towards Ruby and pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

Leti wasn’t sure exactly how she had expected Ruby to respond to that, but she knew that she hadn’t expected Ruby to smile at him and stroke his cheek tenderly, nor had she expected the way he seemed to melt into the touch, almost submissively.

Ruby got out of the car and began the short walk to the salon, and William watched her as she sashayed, a smile stretching across his lips, appreciating the show Ruby was putting on for him. When Ruby finally disappeared from sight, William pushed his sunglasses up off of the tip of his nose, and still smiling to himself, pulled away from the curb and began to drive.

Pushing herself back upright, Leti quickly turned Woody on and began to tail the Daimler.

It was time to discover where Ruby had been hiding out.

* * *

It was dark as Leti pulled onto the street she had tailed William to earlier that day after following him for hours as he ran various, seemingly mundane, errands which Leti nonetheless noted down in a journal she’d brought with her, just in case the information could somehow end up being useful later.

She’d been able to give the grounds of the house a cursory once over, but from what she’d seen of the neighbourhood, the car she was driving was no doubt already sticking out like a sore thumb, and if anybody got a look at her dressed the way she was, she knew she’d be questioned by a neighbourhood patrol if she lingered around, waiting for William to come out again so she could keep following him.

So, Leti had decided to head off before she could draw any unwanted attention, and was determined to return later that night dressed in an old maid’s uniform she still had laying about as a cover story for her presence in the neighbourhood. If anybody saw her approaching the side of the house dressed this way, it wouldn’t draw any suspicion, as Leti knew for a fact that in many households in neighbourhoods like this, the help was still asked to enter from the back.

Approaching the house casually, Leti made her way around to the side of the property, searching for a window to peer through that was not within sight of the road.

It didn’t take her long to find what she was looking for, and though there was nothing interesting within sight of the window for a short while, just as Leti began to detect the sound of a car down the road, Ruby appeared in the foyer, which was visible to Leti through the sitting room window she was peering through.

Ruby leaned casually against what looked to Ruby like the base of a banister that led to the upper floor of the residence. She had a drink in her hand, and as lights from the car Leti had heard lit up the driveway, Leti realized that Ruby must have known William would be arriving, and was greeting him with a drink in hand like some kind of sitcom wife.

It wasn’t long after the car's engine turned off that William came into view as he crossed the foyer, heading towards where Ruby waited for him. Ruby held out the drink, and William took it, downing it in one go as he tugged impatiently at his tie, trying to loosen it. Ruby soon took over the job however, and they exchanged a few words as she worked. 

Once William was able to tug the tie from around his neck, he then rolled his shoulder, and arched his back. It looked to Leti like he was in true discomfort, and idly she wondered if Ruby had known that he had some kind of old injury or something that flared up in the evening and that’s why she’d been waiting with the drink.

Ruby ran her hand down William’s arm, and even though he was still clearly in pain, he managed a smile for her, and then leaned down and pressed a sweet kiss to her mouth, one that was interrupted when his body spasmed. 

Ruby said something to him, then gestured with her hand somewhere into the depths of the house, and William inclined his head before walking off to the left, the way Ruby had pointed, and disappearing from sight.

Leti cursed softly as she observed Ruby watch over William as he walked out of sight. She’d been hoping to find Ruby alone in the house. She’d been hoping that they would have a chance to talk, privately. But she’d barely had time to establish that Ruby was in the house before William had arrived back home.

Dropping down below the line of sight of the window, Leti pressed herself up against the brick of the house's outer wall and thought about how to proceed. 

If William’s back was acting up or whatever was going on with him, then it was less likely that he’d be leaving the house again that night, which meant it would probably be impossible for her to talk to Ruby alone. 

_But, then again_ , Leti thought, _if he’s taking a shot upon entering the house to get some damn relief, then maybe the combination of a full day, alcohol, and a couple of those pills white people be popping, might knock him out._

If so, she might be able to talk to Ruby relatively alone.

When Leti chanced a look inside the window again, she was surprised to find that Ruby had pulled the curtains shut. Mostly. Luckily for Leti, a part remained in the curtains that was large enough for her to see through.

Focusing on the interior of the room, Leti saw Ruby sitting on a very comfortable and expensive looking couch with a guitar that Leti had never seen her with before resting in her lap. Ruby plucked at the strings, brows furrowed in thought, and Leti figured that she must have been working on a section of a new song.

Sometime later, when the sound of Ruby playing suddenly stopped, Leti peered through the window again and was surprised to see Ruby looking at Christina Braithwhite. 

The blonde was leaning casually against the frame of the entrance to the sitting room, dressed only in a long-sleeved men’s button-down shirt (William’s? Leti wondered), her legs bare and exposed. Her hair was wet and hanging loosely around her shoulders, and she was smiling, tenderly, at Ruby. 

Leti was stupefied.

She could see that Christina was speaking to Ruby, but she couldn’t hear what she said. Her lips were curved up in a teasing little smirk however, and when Ruby picked up an embroidered pillow from the couch and tossed it at a laughing Christina, Leti realized that they were joking around.

 _What the hell is going on in this house?_ Leti thought, glaring into the sitting room, very put out by how little sense everything she saw was making.

As Christina hugged the pillow against her front, like a prize Ruby had won for her at the county fair, they talked and Leti pondered.

Where was William? She pondered. 

Where the fuck had Christina come from? She pondered. 

If the house belonged to William, then why is Christina wandering around it half-naked?

Was William more than a boy who’s sometimes a friend to Christina?

If so, was Christina actually wearing one of William’s shirts?  
  
Was she trying to stake a claim on him? Show Ruby that she wasn’t the only woman in his life?

But if that’s what she was doing, then why were Ruby and Christina getting along with each other?

All of these things and more, Leti pondered as she watched Christina pout at Ruby playfully, before pressing her hands together in front of her face, like she was asking for something.

In response, Ruby shook her head at Christina and pointedly crossed her arms over her chest to show that she meant business.

Christina observed her thoughtfully for a moment, then pushed away from the doorframe and walked towards Ruby before coming to a stop directly in front of her.

Leti wasn’t sure what was being said, but the way Christina was positioned, lording over Ruby who was still seated, got Leti’s hackles up. However, to her surprise, Ruby began to smile as she looked up at Christina, enjoying whatever the blonde was saying in some way.

A few moments later, Ruby leaned back against the couch and nodded her head at Christina, biting down on her bottom lip as she observed the blonde with a look in her eyes that Leti couldn’t quite characterize.

Christina then turned and began to walk towards the window, forcing Leti to quickly duck down and press herself up against the wall. A position she stayed in until she began to hear the faint sound of Ruby playing her guitar again.

When Leti looked back inside, Christina was standing with her back to Leti, watching Ruby as she played while occasionally sipping from a drink that she must have fixed for herself when she’d walked towards the window and Leti had been forced to duck out of sight.

As Leti watched Christina watch Ruby, she once again wondered where William was. 

Were Ruby and Christina just killing time until he joined them? And if they were, what would he be joining them for? 

Considering the state of undress Christina was in, and the fact that Ruby took it completely in stride, Leti began to speculate about what could lead to such ‘familiar’ behaviour, and she did not like the answer her brain provided.

So, it was with a sinking feeling in her stomach that Leti watched Christina strut towards the couch after Ruby had stopped playing and moved the guitar securely out of the way. 

As Christina approached, Ruby positioned herself more firmly against the back of the couch, providing better support for her back, and Leti noted that Ruby didn’t take her eyes off of Christina throughout it all.

 _What is happening?_ Leti thought miserably. _Nothing makes sense._

When Christina reached the couch, she stood in front of Ruby for a moment, staring down at her, and then she smoothly mounted Ruby, straddling her lap as Ruby’s hands settled on her thighs.

 _Oooookay_ , Leti thought, her mind whirling. _What the fuck?_

It was true that moments before Leti had wondered if perhaps the three of them had some kind of ‘Parisian’ arrangement, but she had assumed the arrangement would revolve around William.

Leti realized just how wrong she was, however, when Christina cupped Ruby’s face in her hands, reverently stroked her cheeks, and then leaned in, drawing Ruby into a deep, slow kiss that left her gaping at them, frozen in shock. 

It was only when Christina lifted one of Ruby’s hands up to her face and began to suck on Ruby’s fingers that Leti’s brain kicked back into action and she ducked down below the window again, trying very hard not to think about what Ruby’s fingers were likely to be in next.

 _I gotta get outta here_ , Leti thought frantically. 

She was not meant to see this.

Carefully, Leti rose to her feet, making sure to position herself to the side of the window. She then glanced down briefly to make sure there were no twigs in front of her to loudly snap, or obstacle for her to noisily trip over. Having ascertained that the immediate vicinity was free of any hazards, Leti took a step forward just as a noise from the sitting room filtered out through the window.

Instinctively, Leti turned her head towards the sound, which meant towards the window, and saw Christina’s lips fall away from Ruby’s as she tilted her head back, gasping in pleasure. A second after that, the fact that Ruby’s arm was moving, rhythmically flexing, registered with Leti and her gaze shifted down, confirming that Ruby’s hand was between Christina’s legs, doing things that caused the blonde to collapse into her, burying her face in the nook of Ruby’s neck as her hips rocked into Ruby, beginning to ride her with more urgency as her pleasure mounted.

Leti turned away again, pressing her back against the cool brick wall and closing her eyes, focusing on trying to control her breathing.

 _They’re fucking_ , Leti thought, blinking into the darkness of the backyard. _They’re actually fucking, fucking._

Leti was dumbfounded.

She’d never known Ruby to … but, she supposed, she would never have guessed about Montrose.  
  
It was just … she’d seen Ruby with William just before this. And the way Ruby looked at him wasn’t the way she looked at just anyone. Even though she was sure Ruby would deny it, there were hearts in her eyes when she looked at him.

It didn’t make sense to her, how Ruby could be with Christina like this, how she could look at Christina the same way she looked at William, unless…

Back in Ardham, Christina had messed with her memory, and George’s. She’d made them forget certain things, and accept other things without question.

Could she be doing something similar to Ruby? Could William really be sound asleep in bed after taking some pain pills, while unbeknownst to him, Christina was in the sitting room, magically taking advantage of her sister?

It registered with Leti that the sounds coming from the sitting room had stopped, and unable to stop herself, Leti peered through the window again, and once more found herself at an utter loss.

Christina held Ruby’s face in her hands as she brushed the tip of her nose cutely against Ruby’s. When Christina leaned back a little, Leti could see that Ruby was wearing an easy smile as she looked up at Christina affectionately, only breaking eye contact with her a few seconds later when she leaned forward to place a kiss on Christina’s chest, mostly likely above her heart.

If Christina was playing a game, Leti couldn’t understand what it was. 

She needed to talk to Ruby. She needed to know what Ruby knew, what she remembered. However, as she watched Christina slide off Ruby’s lap and kneel at her feet, the blonde’s hands moving to Ruby’s thighs and then spreading them apart, Leti knew that she wasn’t going to get any answers that night.

Turning away from the window for the final time, Leti quickly made her way back around the side of the property, and down the driveway, too anxious to get away to worry about gaining unwanted attention from late night dog walkers.

She’d gone to the house looking for answers, but now had more questions than ever. One thing that she was sure of however, was that there was something suspicious going on in that house. Christina and William were up to something, and had a clear interest in Ruby, even if Leti didn’t fully understand it.

 _I’ll come back tomorrow_ , Leti decided as she got into Woody and started up the engine. _During the day, when she’s likely to be alone._

The conversation that would follow had the potential to be an even worse blowout then the one they’d had about the inheritance money, but Leti didn’t care. She wasn’t going to let them literally fuck her sister with impunity. She just had to hope that she wasn’t already too late to protect Ruby from whatever wickedness William and Christina had planned.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leti goes back to the Hyde Park house the next day, hoping to be able to talk to Ruby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about to get real!
> 
> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments that were left on the first chapter. It really does mean the world to me. As the internet says, it waters my crops and clears my skin! I'm really enjoying hearing your thoughts on the show, on this pairing, and on the story. *blows kisses at my screen*

When Ruby opened the door to the house a day later and saw Leti outside, she sighed heavily, but nonetheless stepped to the side, clearing space for Leti to enter the house.

“What’re you doing here?” Ruby asked, crossing her arms defensively as she turned to face her sister.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Leti began cutely, though from the look on Ruby’s face she didn’t find it cute at all. “I wanted to check up on you,” Leti continued when Ruby simply stared at her, clearly not willing to talk until Leti gave her a straight answer.

“Translation,” Ruby began, “you heard about me with some white boy and came sniffing around to find out if it was true?”

“Is it?” Leti asked.

“What does it matter to you?” Ruby asked.

“I know him. William,” Leti replied. “The woman, Christina, too,” she continued. “They were tangled up in some messed up shit, with some messed up people, out there in Ardham. It was her daddy that shot Mr. George,” Leti continued, revealing the truth as gently as she could, understanding that Ruby had, or _thought_ she had, feelings for William and Christina. “William didn’t randomly show up at your gig that night. He was sent there for you, by Christina, because you’re my sister and I have something she wants.”

“Of course, because the world revolves around you, right?” Ruby sneered, the question coming out with more hostility than Ruby intended as her mind lingered on the fact that Leti hadn’t been entirely wrong to assume that Christina had entered her life because of her.

“She’s using you. They’re using you,” Leti pressed, trying to get Ruby to see beyond their problems, to the truth about William and Christina. “I know you don’t want to see it. I know why you don’t want to see it. But you’ve got to, before it’s too late and they don’t need anything from you anymore.”

“What do you know?” Ruby asked, eyes narrowing with suspicion. “About what I do or don’t want to see.”

“I know you’ve been seen cavorting around town with William,” Leti began. “I saw you with him myself. I’ve seen you with her too,” Leti continued, shifting uncomfortably. “Last night. On the couch in that room over there,” she went on, nodding her head in the direction of the sitting room, deliberately avoiding Ruby’s eyes. 

“So now you’re a peeping Tom?” Ruby asked bitingly, her gaze baleful as she stared at Leti. “What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you even … why the fuck would you …” Ruby’s eyes narrowed. “How long were you out there?” she asked icily, realizing that Leti could have seen some very different things depending on when she had been peeping through the window.

“Not long,” Leti said quickly. “The point is, I saw how you look at her. At both of them. It’s clear that you...feel for them, but you can’t trust it. You can’t trust them,” Leti continued, pleading.

“So, they’re lying to me,” Ruby asked with a calm that put Leti on edge. “And manipulating me, and _fucking_ me, for the sole purpose of, what? Getting at you? Is that right?”

Leti shifted uncomfortably under Ruby’s hostile gaze, but nodded her head.

“I’m confused,” Ruby began, gaze hard and focused on her sister. “If they’re the liars, then how come they told me about magic being real? Something you’ve known about since Ardham yet never found the time to mention in all the weeks since. Even after convincing me to move into Massah Hiriam’s House of Horrors.

“If they’re the liars, then why is it that every time I put a question to her, I’m met with the truth? Truths not even you know about yet,” Ruby continued thinking about the money Leti had used to buy Winthrop House and about the fact that there was no ‘they’, just ‘she’, Christina.

“Ruby,” Leti began, but Ruby didn’t want to hear it.

“You’re the liar, Letitia. You’re the one who uses, who takes and runs. You’re the one who disrespects me to my face, over and over again. So tell me, why the fuck should I put my trust in you now?”

“Because I’m family,” Leti said softly.

“You know, if you ever acted like it when you didn’t need something from me, that might actually have affected me,” Ruby sighed sadly, shaking her head.

Leti reached out instinctively, grasping Ruby’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

“I know I haven’t always been the best sister,” Leti said, meeting Ruby’s eyes and them holding them intently. “I know. But I love you Ruby. I do,” she breathed out earnestly, the pain and shame she felt, knowing that her actions didn’t always reflect that truth, showing in eyes that shimmered with barely contained tears. 

“I know I’ve hurt you, and lied to you, and that I’ve kept things to myself that I shouldn’t have. But I was never trying to hurt you. I would never intentionally…” Leti trailed off, letting that train of thought go. Ruby was not going to respond to excuses. “I’m scared of what she’s capable of. Of what she wants. The things I saw in Ardham…” A far away look came into Leti’s eyes and she was still and silent for a moment before shuddering, snapping herself out of whatever memory she’d fallen into.

“I don’t want something bad to happen to you,” Leti breathed tremulously, her hand unconsciously squeezing Ruby’s. “I don’t want you to end up like George. People like Christina always want something, and when white folk want something from people like us, it never ends well.”

Ruby slipped her hand free from her sister’s grasp.

“Ambition isn’t evil, Leti. Wanting things doesn’t make a person a monster. It doesn’t make _her_ a monster,” Ruby continued, her voice softening around the word ‘her’. “Does she want things? Of course she does. She’s a human fucking being. Does she want something from you? From me? Yeah. Which she openly admits, and told me _all_ about when asked,” Ruby began, voice calm, steady, and sure. “I know what she’s after. I know what she’s trying to achieve. And I want her to succeed,” Ruby said slowly, enunciating every word clearly and precisely. “Being here, being with her, is my _choice_ ,” Ruby stated, punctuating the last word by jabbing her finger towards Leti. 

Leti blinked at Ruby, her brows scrunching together with confusion, as her mind went over everything Ruby had just expressed.

In the silence that followed Ruby’s words, the sound of jingling keys could be heard, and a moment after that the front door to the house opened, and Christina Braithwhite strolled in. A pale eyebrow rose when she spotted Leti, but beyond that she showed little reaction to Leti’s presence.

“Letitia. How lovely to see you again,” Christina greeted, smiling at Leti. “I see you had no trouble getting in,” she continued, the smile still on her face though her gaze was pointed. “How nice for you,” she commented, referencing the magical barrier that had been cast to protect Winthrop House and as a result kept her from being able to enter the building. “Can I get you a drink?”

“She’s not staying,” Ruby told Christina as the blonde began to cross the foyer, moving towards them.

“That’s a shame,” Christina murmured, accepting Ruby’s words as law. “Do say hello to Atticus for me. He’s been on my mind of late,” she continued, gaze focused on Leti as the corners of her lips twitched up in amusement when Leti’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Tic. 

It looked to Leti like Christina had more to say, but after Ruby sent the blonde a sharp look, she simply shrugged and said, “Very well, I’ll leave you to it,” her tone soft, and warm now that she was speaking to Ruby. “I’ll be in the workshop.”

Christina then turned to head down the hall, but before she could take more than a step away, Ruby reached out for her, grasping her wrist. 

Christina turned back around, looking at Ruby curiously. A moment later, the corner of her mouth ticked upward in a smile, and a second after that Ruby leaned into her and pressed their lips together, the sweet contact causing Christina’s eyes flutter blissfully closed as her hand drifted up to cradle Ruby’s cheek.

When the kiss ended, Ruby lifted her hand to Christina’s face, using her thumb to rub away a smudge of lipstick that her kiss had left behind as Christina smiled at her, almost bashfully.

It was then, as she watched them share this soft moment, that Leti first had the thought, _What if it’s real?_

For the first time since hearing about Ruby being seen around town with Mr. Blond-Blond, Leti truly considered the idea that no spells had been cast, and no brain-fuzzifying magic whistle had been blown. For the first time, she thought that maybe, just maybe, what was going on in the house was exactly what it looked like. People who liked each other, and desired each other, enjoying each other’s company. And though such an arrangement was rather incomprehensible to her, Leti thought that maybe she didn’t need to fully understand it, that the fact that she was confused and scared didn’t have to mean that what was happening between Ruby and her pale paramours was inherently bad, or dishonest.

_Maybe_ , Leti thought, _they can be scheming little bitches, and also genuinely care about her_.

Leti was distracted from her thoughts as Christina leaning in to press a kiss against Ruby’s cheek caught her attention, and she found herself turning to watch Christina as she sauntered off down the hallway.

“So, that’s it?” Leti asked once they were alone again in the foyer.

“Guess so,” Ruby replied, shrugging.

Leti was quiet for a moment, thinking.

“How did...?” Leti started only to stop so that she could more fully think through what she wanted to say, knowing that she was already on thin ice with her sister. “William I get. You’ve always had an eye for pretty boys,” Leti said, beginning again. “It’s just … her, Christina. How did she … earn your trust?”

“She listened to me,” Ruby replied, smiling ruefully. “She made me feel like I was worth a damn, like I was magical,” she continued, the last word coming out of her mouth soft as a whisper and touched with awe. “She treated me with respect, and if she gave her word to me, she kept it,” Ruby continued, her voice becoming a little rough with emotion. “She wants to know me. All of me. Even the hard, mean, ugly parts that we all keep buried deep down inside. My rage doesn’t scare her. Insane as it sounds, and I know that it does,” Ruby said looking up, focusing on Leti, “She sees me, like no one else. She sees into me, and she still looks at me like I’m … miraculous,” Ruby blinked rapidly, trying to hold back tears. 

“Okay,” Leti breathed out, nodding her head as if she were trying to psyche herself up to take on a monumental task. “Okay,” she repeated, making a point to meet Ruby’s eyes. “Can I ask you one more thing?”

“You can ask,” Ruby said. “Whether I answer or not, though. Well, that depends on the question.”

“Fair enough,” Leti breathed. “I was just hoping that maybe you could maybe explain to me what exactly the situation here is, between the three of you,” she continued, hesitantly but hopefully. 

She still had no idea what the official word was on William and Ruby? She was pretty sure they were having sex too, but did Ruby have soft feelings for William the same way she seemed to for Christina? Was William sleeping with Christina in addition to Ruby? Did Christina and William even occupy the house at the same time? She’d never seen them in the same room together. 

“I’m so confused,” Leti whispered, reaching out for Ruby’s hand and squeezing it. “Happy that you’re happy, but fucking perplexed. The configurations, Ruby. I don’t understand.”

The combination of Leti’s words, her actions, and the expression on her face made Ruby start to laugh.

“Tell you what,” Ruby began, looking over at Leti when she’d gotten her laughter under control. “Why don’t you come by one day,” she continued, “And if you’re able to mind your tone, and control the impulse to call for Chris to be burned at the stake ... and you bring some of Ophelia’s fishcakes with you,” Ruby went on, shrugging when the last part made Leti smile. “Then I could find my way to explaining some things.”

“Yeah?” Leti asked, smiling.

Ruby nodded, a small smile touching her too. “Yeah,” she said out loud a moment later. “You’re my sister. That’ll always mean something,” she continued, meeting and holding Leti’s eyes. “Always. No matter what I say when I’m mad,” she added, sheepishly.

“I’d like that,” Leti told her earnestly. 

“Hold on a sec,” Ruby said, holding up her hand in front of Leti before disappearing from view for a minute.

When she came back, she had a slip of paper in her hand with a phone number written on it.

Leti took the piece of paper from her, and clutched in her hand before unconsciously pressing the hand that held the paper against her heart.

“I’d better go,” Leti said softly, glancing towards the door. They were in a good place at the moment, and staying longer posed the risk of another argument breaking out between them. “Be safe.”

“I know how to look out for myself,” Ruby replied, though she reached out for Leti’s hand and took it into hers, giving it a warm squeeze. “You take care,” she continued, holding Leti’s hand for a moment longer before letting go. “It’s a crazy world out there.”

“Heard that,” Leti responded, smiling a little as she looked back at Ruby who returned the smile. “I will.”

Ruby nodded at her, and then Leti turned and headed towards the door, disappearing from view a few moments later.

To be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for continuing on this wonderful, magical journey with me! I am so obsessed with this pairing right now, it so wonderful to have people to share all of my feelings about them with!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter, and I'll try to get the final one out as soon as possible :)
> 
> As always, comments are welcome and very, very, appreciated! Everyone puts a huge smile on my face and makes me want to get back to typing so that I can share even more with you all!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leti returns to the Hyde Park house a couple days later, hoping to get the answers Ruby promised the last time they talked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just keep falling further and further down the rabbit hole when it comes to this pairing! The Chemistry! The Yearning! Such good food. I cannot wait to see what new material the show gives us to work with/obsess over next episode!
> 
> Once again, I just have to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for the comments on the previous chapters of the story *sends virtual chef's kisses to you all!* In the language of the interweb, ya'll are watering my crops and clearing my skin :) I be sittin' in front of my monitor looking like a whole-ass fool, just smiling at the screen!

Two days later, Ruby and Leti were sitting around the table in the Hyde Park house’s kitchen, an empty Tupperware container of Ophelia’s fishcakes resting between them as Leti stared at Ruby in open-mouthed disbelief. 

“No,” she breathed out.

“Oh yeah,” Ruby replied, Leti’s open-mouthed incredulity making her laugh.

“No,” Leti said again, shaking her head. “Really?”

Ruby nodded. “Really.”

“So,” Leti began slowly, still trying to work her mind around what Ruby was saying. “There’s only one of them. I mean, there’s just Christina. But she can take a magic potion and turn into man, who we’ve been calling William,” she finished, looking to Ruby for confirmation.

“Bingo,” Ruby declared.

“Whoa,” Leti breathed out, slumping against the back of her chair. A moment later, she perked up and peered at Ruby curiously. “After you found out. Did you ever…” she began, before gesturing vaguely.

“What?” Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You know, had her take the potion, so that you could,” Leti made a gesture with her hand, that made it clear what she was referring to. “I mean obviously you don’t have an issue with … attraction when she looks like herself, but...” Leti murmured awkwardly, pausing when Ruby’s eyes narrowed at her as she hissed,‘Peeping ass peeper’ under her breath.

“Letitia Mae Lewis,” Ruby interjected, drawing Leti’s eyes over to her. “Are you tryin’ to ask me if I ever make her take the potion just so that I can ride a dick?”

“Ruby Marie Baptiste,” Letita breathed out. “Do you?” Leti asked as a grin spread across her lips. 

“Of course, what am I crazy?” Ruby replied, rolling her eyes as if Leti was insane to even contemplate otherwise, and Leti started to laugh. “She likes inhabiting his body,” Ruby said, shrugging lightly. “She likes the things it can do as much as I do,” she continued, a smirk beginning to tug at the corners of her lips. “And, I can assure you, she knows what she’s doing. In both bodies.”

Leti swirled the amber liquid in her glass around thoughtfully.

“Have you always liked other women?” Leti asked hesitantly, still uncertain just how much Ruby was willing to share with her, though so far Ruby had seemed almost relieved to finally have someone to talk to about it.

“Never really thought about it,” Ruby breathed out. “Don’t really think about it now, except for _her_ ,” Ruby continued, explaining as best she could. “It doesn’t matter which face she has, or which body, as long as it’s her,” Ruby sighed softly. “I’m drawn to her. In every way. On every level.”

“I believe it,” Leti breathed out, looking at Ruby contemplatively. “The way you look at her,” she continued shaking her head. “I’ve never seen you like this about anyone before. You’re so...smitten.”

“You’re one to talk,” Ruby replied, ready to turn the tables and do a little digging of her own.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Leti asked with some trepidation.

“You’re not the only one who hears things,” Ruby began, enjoying the way Leti began to squirm. “What’s going on with you and Mr. Fix-it?” 

Instinctively, Leti smiled and blushed, and it was legitimately so adorable that Ruby couldn’t find it within herself to tease her about it.

“You finally …” Ruby asked, trailing off, knowing that Leti knew what she was asking.

Leti blushed even deeper, and though Ruby didn’t think it was possible, her smile widened.  
“The first time was … I mean, it could’ve gone better. But the next time,” Leti sighed, happily, “and the time after that, and the time after that…” she continued, grinning again. 

“Well, daaamn,” Ruby breathed out, and a moment after that both of the sisters burst out into laughter.

Leti open her mouth to say more, but before she could say anything, the sound of the front door slamming shut them where they were seated in the kitchen.

Leti’s eyes widened with excitement at the thought of encountering Christina again, knowing the truth.

“Ruby?” a masculine voice called out a few seconds later. 

_So it’s William then_ , Leti thought, interested to see what she would make of him now, if she could see the acting, or if the performance was as flawless as she remembered.

“We’re in the kitchen,” Ruby called back.

“We?” he asked curiously.

“Leti’s here,” Ruby replied, and then a few moments later, William appeared in the doorway, tall, handsome, and smiling as he gazed at the sisters seated at the kitchen table. 

As Leti observed him, she noted that he was leaned up against the frame of the doorway the same way Christina had when she was watching Ruby play the guitar in the sitting room that night. And it hit her then, in a way that merely hearing Ruby explain things hadn’t, that she really was looking at a magically disguised Christina Braithwhite.

“It’s lovely to see you again, Letitia,” William said, pushing away from the door frame and sauntering over to them, cool as a cucumber; confident as he was pretty. Just like she remembered.

When he reached the table, he held his hand out, palm up towards Leti, asking for hers. After a quick look at Ruby who seemed amused, Leti placed her hand in William’s and he lifted it up to his lips, pressing a kiss against the back of it.

Leti’s skin flushed a little at the attention, and she had the answer to her earlier question. She could see hints of Christina in there now, yes, but the performance was still very convincing.

After releasing Leti’s hand, Christina turned to face Ruby, and after gazing at her admiringly for a moment, she leaned down and brought their lips together.

It was then that Leti was able to see that there was a record clutched in her hand, hidden behind her back. 

Leti guessed that she had intended to surprise Ruby with the record, but her unexpected presence at the house had likely complicated the blonde’s plans to present the gift to Ruby.

“What have you got there, big boy?” Leti asked, gesturing towards Christina’s back, deciding to help her out.

“Ah,” Christina said, drawing the record out from around her back and presenting it to Ruby with a flourish. “For you,” she murmured charmingly, “I hope it’s well received,” she continued, smiling, softly rakish in a way that Leti had only seen Christina wear with William’s face. 

Ruby stared at the record for a moment before reaching out to take hold of it.

“How?” Ruby asked, voice cracking slightly as she looked up at the blonde.

She’d looked, and looked, and looked for a copy - before and after her mama’s death - and she hadn’t even caught a whiff of one.

“I’ve told you before, I’m very motivated when it comes to you,” Christina said, stroking Ruby’s cheek tenderly. “Also I’m magic,” she added with a cocky little grin that earned her a smile from Ruby.

A moment later, a spasm ran through William’s body, his muscles tightening and his body twisting before Christina stumbled forward, just barely managing to catch the edge of the kitchen table with her hand which helped keep her on her feet.

Ruby’s hand moved to cover Christina’s, and she shifted her weight, clearly intending to stand up and offer some kind of help, but the blonde shook her head.

“Stay with you sister. I’ll be fine,” she said, holding Ruby’s eyes for a long moment.

Christina then flashed Ruby a quick smile, and then turned and walked out of the kitchen.

A few moments later, in the quiet of the house, Leti heard a door squeak open and then shut.

_The workshop_ , she speculated as her eyes turned to Ruby. 

“That looked painful,” she observed, shuddering a little.

“It is,” Ruby replied, voice heavy and distracted.

“You can go to her if you want,” Leti began carefully. “I can keep myself occupied for a while.”

“I appreciate the offer,” Ruby said, offering Leti a genuine little smile. “But she doesn’t like to be watched during the transformation, or seen after. Not until she’s had a chance to clean up.”

Leti wondered what exactly a magic potion would leave to be cleaned up, but she decided not to ask.

She had a feeling that she didn’t want to know the answer.

A moment later however, a mischievous look came into Leti’s eyes as she thought of another question for Ruby.

“So, lemme get this straight,” Leti started, leaning back in her chair. “Transforming is painful, and messy, but you still get her to take the potion so you can, and I quote, ‘ride a dick’ whenever you want?” Leti asked, smirking as she shook her head at her sister.

“Trust me,” Ruby stated, looking Leti straight in the eyes. “I know how to make it worth her while. The magic I work more than makes up for the temporary discomfort of the metamorphosis,” she continued, laughing when Leti reached out and slapped her on the arm lightly.

“If you do say so yourself,” Leti teased.

“The results speak for themselves,” Ruby replied saucily, and having seen some of the results through the sitting room window a few nights ago, Leti couldn’t disagree with her.

“So,” Leti drawled, nodding towards the record. “What’d she get you?”

Ruby slipped the record across the table so Leti could see for herself.

“Mama,” Leti immediately gasped. “I’ve never seen a copy before,” Leti whispered, staring at it in wonder. “I … I never heard her, how she sounded back then, before...” she trailed off, knowing she didn’t have to continue. She didn’t have to explain. Not with Ruby.

“Should we put it on?” Ruby asked, and though it was a little sad, Leti smiled at Ruby before breathing out, “Yeah. Let’s.”

***

When Christina emerged from the basement, dressed casually in slacks and button down short-sleeve shirt, Ruby and Leti were on couches in the sitting room, listening to the record of their mother that Christina and her intuition had managed to track down.

Christina lingered in the doorway to the room, wondering if she should leave them to their reunion. However, when Ruby spotted her and smiled, waving her over without a moment of hesitation, Christina immediately moved towards her, falling to Ruby’s siren song.

Coming to a stop beside the couch, Christina tapped Ruby on the shin. Ruby looked at her curiously, but nonetheless complied with the silent request and shifted her legs off the couch. Once a space was cleared, Christina settled herself primly on the cushions, and then tapped her lap. Ruby smirked, and then dutifully lifted her feet and placed them in Christina’s lap.

“She used to hum this one,” Leti said, pretending not to notice the way Christina began to massage Ruby’s calves with a sort of absent-minded familiarity that spoke volumes.

“Yeah,” Ruby breathed out, eyes fluttering as she turned her head towards Leti, Christina’s touch clearly having a relaxing effect on her. “You always liked it,” Ruby continued with a smile. “You were always humming it. Off key,” she went on, laughing when Leti glared at her.

“I haven’t been off-key a day in my life!” Leti declared, pointing an emphatic finger at Ruby, whose attention was divided at the moment between her, and gazing over at her lover.

Leti rolled her eyes at the two of them, but thanked her lucky stars that they weren’t doing what they were doing the last time she had seen them on that couch together.

“Do you have any embarrassing childhood stories about Ruby that you’d be willing to share?” Christina asked suddenly, her pale blue wolf eyes suddenly focused on Leti.

“As it happens,” Leti began happily, “I’ve got quite a few, and I’m very happy to share,” she said, exchanging a smile with Christina as Ruby looked between the two of them, her brows furrowing slightly.

“Don’t make me go talkin’ to Fix-it,” Ruby said warningly, pointing a warning finger at Leti.

“What? I’m just being personable,” Leti said, smirking. “You want us to get along, don’t you?” she asked, glancing over at Christina.

“It would make your life so much easier if we did, wouldn’t it?” Christina said, catching Leti’s drift and following along as her fingers teased up and down Ruby’s smooth calves, offering further encouragement.

“For the record,” Ruby began pointing her finger back and forth between them. “I don’t like this. There’s not much I can do about her,” Ruby continued looking over at Leti. “But you,” Ruby said, her voice dropping a little as she turned her gaze on Christina. “You’re a different story,” she stated, her tone and gaze firm and commanding.

Ruby’s words, or the look in her eyes, or the combination of both, provoked a breathless inhalation from Christina. And Leti, once again, learned more than she needed to, or wanted to, know about Ruby and Christina’s love life when the blonde’s lips parted longingly, and her hand crept scandalously high on Ruby’s thigh as she began to lean over Ruby’s body. 

To Leti’s immense relief, Christina caught herself then, the higher functions of her brain finally overriding whatever instinct Ruby’s imperiousness had awakened in her. Christina then settled herself back into the prim and proper position she had been seated in before, appearing deceptively uptight considering the woman had almost just mounted Ruby right in front of her.

Leti bit down on her bottom lip, trying to control the urge to laugh as she realized that despite the icy, wolfish, predatory energy she projected in the streets, Christina seemed to be more of an eager to please puppy in the sheets.

“Hey, Rubes,” Leti called out, suddenly desperate to be thinking about anything other than Christina Braithwhite’s, and by extension Ruby’s, sexual habits. Not with them sitting on that couch. Not after all that she had seen. “How about a kitchen party?” Leti suggested.

“A kitchen party?” Christina questioned, looking over at Ruby curiously.

“She means watching me cook while she blares the radio and has a grand old time dancing around...not helping,” Ruby told Christina, ignoring Leti’s offended look.

“That’s not true. I play a crucial role,” Leti said importantly, looking over at Christina. “I’m her sauce taster, gravy taster, stuffing taster, and so much more. I’m dinner’s last line of defense,” Leti went on, making Ruby laugh and Christina smile bemusedly.

“Well, your services won’t be needed anymore,” Ruby drawled, cutting her eyes over towards Leti. “I’ve got a new taster now,” she commented, smirking as she nodded at Christina, whose eyes were alight, practically twinkling with affection. “That tongue is a wonder.”

Leti’s brow furrowed, a completely unwanted memory of Christina slipping to her knees in front of Ruby popping into her head.

“Is that a euphemism?” Leti asked, sounding disturbed, uneasy, perturbed.

“What?” Ruby asked, her face scrunching in confusion for a moment before understanding dawned in her eyes. “No! Jesus! Leti, what's wrong with you? Why would you...” Ruby continued before trailing off and just shaking her head.

Leti opened her mouth to say something, and even lifted her hand to point at Ruby, her eyes burning with the desire to defend herself, but with visible effort she clamped down on what she was going to say.

“Go on,” Ruby encouraged, never quite able to stop herself from needling Leti. “Say what you wanna say?”

“She was in the bushes for longer than she indicated,” Christina murmured, drawing Ruby’s eyes over to her. “She saw me,” the blonde continued, glancing down at the floor.

Ruby’s eyes widened and she hissed, “Peeping ass peeper,” as she glared at Leti. “For the record,” Ruby continued pissily, “I was talking about my jambalaya. And no, that’s not a euphemism either!” Ruby noted, holding Leti’s gaze pointedly for a few moments, as Christina bit down on her bottom lip, trying to contain a grin. “Christina picked up on the pinch of cumin,” Ruby related, looking over at Christina proudly. “Nobody picks up on the cumin,” she murmured, voice softening as Christina’s wide-eyes drank up the sight of Ruby gazing at her.

“You put cumin in your jambalaya?” Leti asked, eyes widening in surprise.

“See,” Ruby said, shaking her head with faux sadness. “This is why you lost the Official Taster position.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Leti muttered under her breath. “Bet she found it spicy,” Leti added grumpily a moment later.

“Was it not supposed to be spicy?” Christina asked, turning to face Ruby, who despite herself started to chuckle, which began to set Leti off too. “I’m seriously asking,” Christina continued, looking between the sisters confusedly. “I’d never had jambalaya before.”

“I know,” Ruby wheezed out, reaching out for Christina’s hand and holding it warmly in her own, as she tried to rein in her laughter, softening as always at the reminder of how little Christina’s father had allowed her to experience of life outside of the cult.

“Is there something I need to learn about white people to understand the joke?” Christina asked, the insightfulness of the question surprising Leti, as Ruby regained enough self-regulation to nod ‘yes’ at Christina. “I’m listening,” Christina said in response, and Ruby smiled at her fondly.

“Ya’ll,” Ruby began.

“Blandass whitey’s?” Christina suggested playfully, the words causing Leti to look over at her with disbelief.

“Ya’ll blandass whitey’s think everything’s spicy,” Ruby replied, happily taking Christina’s suggestion and weaving it into her explanation. “A spice rack should contain more than salt and black pepper. The solutions to every food based problem are not ‘boil it’ or ‘mash it’. Ya’ll took over India for spices … but where are they?” Ruby asked rhetorically with dramatic flourish. 

“Should I take this to mean that you have not been dazzled by Mrs. McGregor’s culinary efforts?” Christina asked, a little smile tugging up the corners of her lips as she observed Ruby. “I can hire a new cook. You could choose.”

“Mmm” Ruby drawled, looking at Christina appraisingly. “If I did, would you be able to handle the heat?”

“I can handle whatever you want me to handle,” Christina replied, her eyes sparkling with a playful challenge as she looked at Ruby.

_Oh no_ , Leti thought. _Not this again._

“So?” Leti said, slapping her hands together. “Kitchen party?” She prompted, attempting to stop Ruby and Christina from getting too flirty and dirty-eyed and subjecting her to it by directing their attention back to the important matters at hand. 

“I’d like to experience a kitchen party,” Christina replied, turning to look at Ruby. “And, I’d be happy to be your helper,” she added, softly.

“Fine,” Ruby said, once again finding herself helpless in the face of Christina’s wide, earnest gaze. “Don’t look at me like that,” Ruby added a second later, shifting her legs off of Christina’s lap as she pointed a finger at Leti who had smiled triumphantly when she agreed. 

“Kitchen party’s for Christina,” Ruby stated as she rose to her feet, the words drawing a smile from Christina and pouty glare from Leti. “You get to eat, though. ‘Cuz you’re family. You’re welcome.”

Leti’s posture relaxed and she set her face right again.

“Good enough for me,” she said, popping up to her feet as Christina stood as well.

“You wanna pick the radio station?” Leti offered, looking over at Ruby as the three of them began to walk towards the kitchen.

“Kitchen party’s for Christina,” Ruby repeated, and Leti glanced over at the blonde worriedly.

“Don’t worry,” Christina said, placing a reassuring hand on Leti’s shoulder. “I have good taste in music.”

Leti wanted to laugh at that, but Christina sounded serious, and when Ruby looked over at Leti, she nodded her head in the affirmative.

Leti shrugged, simply accepting it as they entered the kitchen. Afterall, she philosophized, it was just one more unexpected thing to add to the list of odd, mysterious, and inconceivable revelations and events that had become her life since Ardham.

A short while later, the sound of music began to fill the kitchen, and Leti found herself smiling as she thought, _Huh, whaddaya know? She does have good taste in music._

  
The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for taking this wild-ride with me! I hope that you enjoyed the conclusion of the story :)
> 
> As always, comments are welcome and very much appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I hope you've enjoyed the story so far. I am certainly having the time of my life writing about these two.
> 
> Part Two, the conclusion, will hopefully be out before the weekend!
> 
> And, as always, Comments are welcome and very much appreciated!


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